


The Kids Are Alright

by RobinPlaysTrumpet15



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cute, De-Aged Characters, Don't copy to another site, Fluff, Gen, Toddlers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-02 02:20:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23537521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinPlaysTrumpet15/pseuds/RobinPlaysTrumpet15
Summary: The 212th deals with what might be a spontaneous case of de-aging.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 272





	The Kids Are Alright

**Author's Note:**

> This is marked as finished, but I plan to add more one shots as separate chapters in the future whenever the mood strikes me. So if you enjoy this, keep an eye out.

The joyful cries of children were not unfamiliar to Obi-Wan. After all, he’s spent plenty of time in the creche, helping with younglings of all ages. He had a set of tunics specifically for the occasions, stained with paint that never quite came out in the wash. He found great joy in the company of children.

What _was_ unfamiliar were the decidedly _un_ cheerful cries of children on his cruiser. It shouldn’t be possible. Unless something had happened within the past few hours that he didn’t know about, there shouldn’t be _any_ children on his ship.

He’d been heading to the bridge when the sounds caught his attention. Something shifted within the Force and suddenly the ease with which the day had been going was gone, nowhere to be found.

Obi-Wan followed the cries down the next junction in the corridor. He found himself heading towards the barracks, the noise sounding from behind the door to one of the communal ‘freshers Wright Platoon shared.

He hesitated outside the door. This was an area he’d never gone before and had never planned to. The men had their space and he had no intentions of encroaching upon it. But, he reasoned to himself, something was going on in there. At best, it was a practical joke that wouldn’t hurt anyone in the long run. At worst…

Obi-Wan knocked on the door, waiting for a moment. A few presences approached him from the other end of the hall.

“General?” a voice inquired. “What’s going on?”

Obi-Wan turned, fixing a curious gaze on the pair of 2nd Airborne troopers who had joined him.

“Just to be sure,” he began, “you do hear those cries as well, correct?”

Their concerned expressions furrowed further as they gave quick nods.

“Yes, sir.”

“Oh good,” he sighed, returning his attention to the door. “Well, I did knock and nobody answered. I need to know what’s going on in there so…”

He tapped at the control panel, the ‘fresher door whooshing open to let out a cloud of steam.

Obi-Wan paused a mere step inside the room.

“What in Force’s name-?”

On the slick floor sat five little younglings, no more than two or three standard years old. They were all identical with the same deep olive skin tone and wispy black hair. Each child was soaked, naked, and in various states of distress. Three of them were crying and another looked as if he was getting close. The last seemed to stare at the others in shock.

Obi-Wan couldn’t help it. He was frozen, gaping at the children.

They looked familiar. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say they could be clones-

“ _Sithspit_.”

He hit the emergency shut off button on the wall to stop the flow of water from the separate showerheads around the room. Then he strode forward quickly, doing his best to ensure he wouldn’t slip.

“Troopers,” he called at the two pilots behind him.

“Yes?” He could hear the shock in their voices; in how they dropped all formality.

“What squad was scheduled to be in here right now?” he asked, coming closer to the little clones. One of them stopped crying as he did so, getting three of them to stare at him in amazement. The other two kept sniffling, crawling away to hide behind their braver brothers.

“Uh… us, I think,” one of the still full-size troopers said.

“Half of the squad got here ahead of us.”

Obi-Wan shed his cloak to bundle the five little children together. It wasn’t much, but it would do to cover them for now until he found a better solution. Assuming they would all stay together, that was. Five squirming toddlers might not prove to be the easiest to cover with a single cloak.

“And what squad are you?”

“Omega, sir.”

“Gather your last three, please,” Obi-Wan instructed. “I want all of you to accompany me to Briefing Room Alpha to figure this out.”

“Yes, sir!”

Fortunately, it didn’t take long for the last of Omega Squad to arrive, allowing the five grown brothers to pick up the de-aged ones and carry them from the ‘fresher. The walk seemed longer than usual and drew plenty of stares. The squad had to walk awkwardly close, huddled together to allow Obi-Wan’s now wet robe to cover the young clones.

On the way, he called for Cody.

_“Yes, General?”_

“Meet me in Briefing A, please, Commander.”

_“Right away, sir.”_

“Where are you coming from?”

_“The barracks.”_

“Be a dear and bring some towels with you, would you? It seems we forgot to grab some in our hurry.”

Towels as clothes also weren’t exactly ideal, but they were something, at least.

_“Of course, General, but-”_

“I’ll explain what I know when you arrive, Cody. I promise. I’ll need at least five towels, please.”

_“Yes, sir. On my way.”_

“Thank you. Over and out.”

Obi-Wan ended the call, renewing his pace to catch up with the squad that had pulled ahead of him. They were clearly eager to be away from the prying eyes of the corridors.

It didn’t take long to get to the briefing room. Omega Squad, busied themselves together, the bigger clones taking care of the smaller ones. They shushed the deaged troopers in a gentle, yet slightly panicked sort of way that was almost endearing. All but one of the little younglings had stopped crying now, resting calmly with their brothers.

Obi-Wan was beginning to pace, a new nervous energy working its way into his limbs. How had this happened? What had caused it? Could this happen to _any_ of the troopers? Was it permanent? Would they change back? How long would it last if they _weren’t_ stuck like this? What were they going to do-?

His increasingly panicked train of thought was cut off by the door swishing open, revealing Cody, laden down with a whole armful of towels.

“I know you said at least five, but I didn’t know if you would need more than that,” Cody began, pacing into the room. “So I brought a couple mo-”

The commander stopped dead in his tracks.

Even with his helmet on, Obi-Wan knew Cody’s eyes were fixed on the squad of troopers before him.

“ _Meg te dar’yaim_ …” The speakers of his helmet barely picked up and pushed the audio, letting Obi-Wan hear what his commander had muttered.

Obi-Wan couldn’t hold back his chuckle. Very rarely was his commander ever thrown this completely for a loop. At the moment, it was highly amusing.

Oh, they’d have their hands full with this one.

*

_“General, there’s a situation.”_

Obi-Wan frowned at his comlink. Before responding, he couldn’t tell if he would rather it be related to their current _situation_ or a new one. He wasn’t sure he could handle a new one, to be perfectly honest.

“What type of situation, Waxer?”

_“Related to the current problem, sir. Just meet us at the commander’s office.”_

“Copy that. I’m on my way.”

 _“Hurry,”_ the lieutenant’s voice came back, sounding unsure. It was undercut by the wailing of a child. Obi-Wan hoped it was one of the original five from yesterday morning.

He walked off the bridge as quickly as he could manage, making a beeline for Cody’s office. He had no idea why they were meeting there rather than somewhere else.

(Actually, he could think of one reason, but he refused to consider that just yet.)

Arriving in front of the door, he input Cody’s personal code. The door opened swiftly to allow him in.

The wails were much louder now without the heavy durasteel between them.

Waxer and Boil stood together, the former bouncing up and down at the knees. His arms were occupied by a hastily dressed, deaged trooper.

The boy was sobbing, snot and tears all down his face. His chubby little hands pushed uselessly at Waxer’s chest, trying to get away or be put down or something. Whatever it was, he was clearly unhappy with his lot in life.

“Waxer, Boil,” Obi-Wan greeted, coming just a step or two closer. “Who have you got there?”

The child looked over at him, still crying. His face was red and scrunched up in sobs. His mouth hung open, showing off tiny baby teeth as he wailed.

A long, jagged scar sat on his temple, smaller than Obi-Wan was used to seeing it.

“Bee-wah Bee-wah,” the little trooper babbled out, struggling harder against Waxer’s grip. The tears renewed themselves quickly, bringing more anguished wails and upset.

“Bee-wah!” the boy shouted again.

Obi-Wan knew exactly who this was.

His heart broke, watching a little Cody struggle against his brother like that.

He stepped forward quickly, reaching to take Cody into his arms.

“Oh oh oh,” he shushed his little companion. “Brave little commander, I’m right here.”

Obi-Wan cradled his second in command, stroking his back soothingly.

“I’ll always be right here.”

Cody quieted quickly, falling asleep in Obi-Wan’s steady hold.

“Waxer?” Obi-Wan prompted, continuing to rub his commander’s back in an effort to keep him asleep.

“Yes, General?”

“Would you act as captain of Ghost Company for the time being? Just until we can get all of this figured out?”

“Of course, sir,” Waxer responded, straightening with a brief salute.

“Good man,” Obi-Wan replied with a smile. “Now, I have other duties to attend to, and it seems I will have my hands, uh… extra full, for the foreseeable future.”

“Good luck, General,” Boil teased.

Obi-Wan sent the man a wry grin. “Thank you kindly, Boil. If you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time to speak with the Council about our ‘situation’.”

The pair gave him twin nods as he turned and left the office. He set out for Briefing Room B. It was closest and unoccupied, last he saw on the schedule.

He chuckled quietly to himself, imaging the faces his fellow councilors would make upon seeing little Cody in his arms.

Oh, this was going to be fun.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you like this. If you have any prompts or ideas for what you'd like to see out of this au, let me know and I'll see what I might do with them in the future. Thanks again!


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